Information has been updated, and changes made to ways of working. 

Reporter's concern

The reporter to CIRAS said that:

  • The London North Eastern Sectional Appendix was missing schematics from New Furnace tunnel to Bradford Mill Lane junction – and Halifax and Low Moor stations were not in the index.
  • Electronically, page numbers were present but the schematic stopped at New Furnace tunnel.
  • The reporter was concerned because railway staff rely on the Sectional Appendix and could not inform themselves about these parts of the route due to the missing schematics.

They wanted Network Rail to investigate and resolve the issue. 

Network Rail's response 

Network Rail said that:

  • It spoke to some of those working on publications to understand the background. Its investigation didn’t discover the root cause, but emails showed that the problem was highlighted in 2019.
  • Employees were then working to address the issue, but this coincided with long-term sickness absence and it wasn’t picked up again.
  • The Publications team have now amended the tables so there are no missing schematics and both Halifax and Low Moor locations appear in the index. They updated the metadata in the National Electronic Sectional Appendix (NESA).
  • Since 2019, competent people in the Safety team now review the Table A diagrams to avoid inaccuracies. The Publications team has reviewed the change procedure and put measures in place to ensure complete schematics. Both work together to provide a safe source of information.

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